I'm flying to Nigeria today!!! This marks my second trip in my adult life. Sadly, I don't feel as excited about it as I did Christmas 2014 when I went the first time. I guess because the first time is always the most exciting. After that it's like, been there. But still, I make it a point to take something away from my trips to my heritage land.

I believe the last time I went, I had 5 objectives. 1. Learn to dance 2. Keep an Open mind 3. Bond with family 4. Learn something new every day 5. Pray. And I believe I completed all of my objectives. I kept a diary and wrote to myself and my boyfriend everyday about everything. Because writing reels things in for me.

So what's the plan this trip? After working as a full-time Pharmacist for over a year, the number one objective is to RELAX. This vacation is a real life vacation. I'm going to be so far away from work, away from the internet, and away from stress - caused by work and internet. I need a break. Point. Blank. Period (although I thought the point was the period, but whatever).

My second goal is to separate myself from the things that give me anxiety and angst. Meaning, I've been trying to find the perfect corner for my online presence for over a year, and I feel just as lost now than when I started (mainly because of all the information I'm soaking up from other people online, it's distracting me from my purpose -whatever that is). So my goal is to, because I'll have no choice, disconnect from the online world and reconnect with myself. I'm going to use this time to figure out what I truly want to do, without any business/blogging/"whatever"preneur telling me what I'm supposed to do. No shade, but I gotta do this part on my own.

Number 3...Pray. Reconnect with the One who got me here in the first place. Yes, probably that should have been number one, but if I'm being honest, my relationship with God has been pushed to the side because I thought I could figure it out on my own. See how well that's working for me? I love spending time with God, and I have to focus on putting Him first. Still wondering why it's not number 1 on the list? Because I'm being honest with myself.

Number 4. Write. Every day. To myself. To Him. To my other him. To some made up person I formed in my head. Whoever, whenever. Writing is important to me. So important that I stop myself from putting words to screen because the fear of judgement & criticism that my words aren't good enough. Fear of something that hasn't even occurred, to this day. I wake up wanting to write, go to work thinking about all of the things I can create. I see people everyday online push past their fear and put themselves out there in text. It has to be the most elating thing anyone's every experienced. I need that.

Number 5. Read. Read for learning. Read for fun. Read for growth. Y'all, this seems like a lot of academic-type activities I'm trying to get into on "vacation". But I love reading. I used to read for fun all day every day, but growing up took a lot of time away from me, and I want to get it back. Come Kindle or paperback :-)

I don't know why I want to stop at 5, it seems like a round enough number. But that's where I'll stop. I still have my journal from last year's voyage so maybe I'll bind that up and share it with you guys on the My Nigeria Page when I return, along the pictures. No point in taking all those pictures just to sit on my laptop for the rest of my life. But back on topic. This time around, my goal is to find myself in the middle of my culture, discover what matters to me, and find a way to translate that on paper to share it with the world. That's all I really want.